“After five years of Republican foot-dragging, members of Congress last week ratified an agreement that will increase the capital of the International Monetary Fund and give developing countries like China and India a greater say in the organization. This should strengthen the fund at a time when its expertise is needed to help revive a slowing global economy.In 2010, the Obama administration negotiated an agreement with other countries to double the I.M.F.’s capital to about $755 billion, so it could lend more money to troubled countries like Greece and Spain. The changes also gave more voting power in the fund’s management to China, India, Brazil and Russia while slightly reducing the clout of European countries and the United States. China’s voting share would go up to 6 percent, from 3.8 percent, once the reforms began. The American share would be little changed at 16.5 percent.Most nations quickly ratified the changes, but until recently Republicans in Congress refused to even vote on the reforms, which put the changes on hold. Some of those lawmakers argued that the fund did not need more money, while others said the organization was lending recklessly. Last week, however, the Obama administration and the Republican leaders agreed to include ratification of the I.M.F. reforms in the omnibus spending bill that the president signed on Friday.The Republicans appear to have realized that their inaction was undermining America’s leadership in the world. For example, China has been so frustrated that its voting share at the I.M.F. and the World Bank are small relative to the size of its growing economy that it has begun building its own international financial organizations. Several American allies, including Britain, Germany and South Korea, have agreed to invest in one of those new Chinese initiatives, the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank.”

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About David Lindsay Jr

David Lindsay is the author of "The Tay Son Rebellion, Historical Fiction of Eighteenth- Century Vietnam," that covers a bloody civil war from 1770 to 1802. Find more about it at TheTaySonRebellion.com, also known as, DavidLindsayJr.com.
David Lindsay is currently writing about Climate Change and the Sixth Extinction., as well as singing and performing a "folk concert" on Climate Change and the Sixth Extinction.
He can be reached at daljr37(at)gmail.com.